A Flower Garland by Daniel Seghers Carina Fryklund and Lena Dahlén

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Art Bulletin of Nationalmuseum Stockholm

Volume 26:1

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Art Bulletin of Nationalmuseum

Stockholm Volume 26:1

2019

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Henri Toutin’s Portrait of Anne of Austria. A New Acquisition from the Infancy of Enamel Portraiture

CC-BY-SA (Fig. 5, p. 21)

Four 18th-Century French Draughtsmen

François-André Vincent and Johan Tobias Sergel. On a New Acquisition – Alcibiades Being Taught by Socrates, 1777

Italian Subjects from the Golden Age of Artistic Travel

Akseli Gallen-Kallela’s Nude Studies

is published with generous support from the Friends of the Nationalmuseum.

Nationalmuseum collaborates with Svenska Dagbladet, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Grand Hôtel Stockholm, The Wineagency and the Friends of the Nationalmuseum.

Cover Illustration

Daniel Seghers (1590–1661) and Erasmus Quellinus the Younger (1607–1678), Flower Garland with the Standing Virgin and Child, c.

1645–50. Oil on copper, 85.5 x 61.5 cm. Purchase:

Wiros Fund. Nationalmuseum, NM 7505.

Publisher

Susanna Pettersson, Director General.

Editors

Ludvig Florén, Magnus Olausson and Martin Olin.

Editorial Committee

Ludvig Florén, Carina Fryklund, Eva-Lena Karlsson, Ingrid Lindell, Magnus Olausson, Martin Olin, Daniel Prytz and Cilla Robach.

Photographers

Nationalmuseum Photographic Studio/Linn Ahlgren, Erik Cornelius, Anna Danielsson, Viktor Fordell, Cecilia Heisser and Hans Thorwid.

Picture Editors

Rikard Nordström and Marina Strouzer-Rodov.

Photo Credits

A Flower Garland by Daniel Seghers

A Drawing of David with the Head of Goliath Attributed to Simon Vouet

Martin van Meytens’s Portrait of Johann Michael von Grosser: The Business of Nobility

Graphic Design BIGG

Layout Agneta Bervokk

Translation and Language Editing Clare Barnes and Martin Naylor Publishing

Ludvig Florén, Magnus Olausson, and Martin Olin (Editors) and Ingrid Lindell (Publications Manager) Art Bulletin of Nationalmuseum is published annually and contains articles on the history and theory of art relating to the collections of the Nationalmuseum.

Nationalmuseum Box 16176

SE–103 24 Stockholm, Sweden www.nationalmuseum.se

ISSN 2001-9238

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Foreword – Time to Look, Read and Explore Susanna Pettersson

7 A Flower Garland by Daniel Seghers Carina Fryklund and Lena Dahlén

9 A Drawing of David with the Head of Goliath Attributed to Simon Vouet Martin Olin

15 Henri Toutin’s Portrait of Anne of Austria.

A New Acquisition from the Infancy of Enamel Portraiture Magnus Olausson

19 Portraits and Dining Services from the Grill Family Eva-Lena Karlsson and Micael Ernstell

23 Four 18th-Century French Draughtsmen Magnus Olausson, Martin Olin and Daniel Prytz

27 François-André Vincent and Johan Tobias Sergel.

On a New Acquisition – Alcibiades Being Taught by Socrates, 1777 Magnus Olausson

37 Argent haché – Acquisitions from a Unique Collection Micael Ernstell

45 A Late Gustavian Secrétaire en armoire by Gustaf Adolf Ditzinger Anders Svensson

49

ConTEnTs

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ConTEnTs

In the Artist’s Studio.

Auguste-Xavier Leprince and the Studio Interior as an Artistic Strategy Magnus Olausson

53 Italian Subjects from the Golden Age of Artistic Travel Carl-Johan Olsson

59 The Danish Golden Age – an Acquisitions Project that Became an Exhibition Magnus Olausson

65 Akseli Gallen-Kallela’s Nude Studies Susanna Pettersson

77 Royal Tableaux Vivants Eva-Lena Karlsson

83 Elsa Beskow’s Illustrations for The Tale of the Little, Little Old Woman (1897, c. 1947) Daniel Prytz

87 Martin van Meytens’s Portrait of Johann Michael von Grosser:

The Business of Nobility Michael Yonan

91

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ForEworD – TImE To Look, rEaD anD ExPLorE

open to selected audiences and the visits were private in character. When visiting a private manor house or a castle, for instance, the artworks and objects could be studied at close range. A collection’s owner could show their latest acquisition to a distinguished guest, while the ritual of experiencing and interpreting included looking, smelling the materials and even touching. These events became popular topics for paintings that celebrated the glory and value of private collections.

Knowledge related to items in a collection was highly appreciated as far back as the Renaissance, with the earliest cabi- nets of curiosities focusing on naturalia, artificialia and scientifica. Collections provided keys for understanding the world, creating structure and categories, and contextual information added to the aura of an object. (However, in some cases the stories were pure invention, as in the cases of fabricated treasures such as mer- maids or unicorn horns.) Contemporary museums still build upon this contextual tradition.

The intimate relationship between the object and the visitor changed dramati- cally when collections were introduced to the wider public at the end of the 18th century. Visitors could no longer touch the works or study the objects up close.

Objects were displayed in specially de- signed cases and paintings were carefully placed on the walls, some very high and out of reach. Closer examination became no matter whether they are an experience

seeker or a professional.

Entering the collections through physical and virtual doors is the key. The pandemic has encouraged museums to in- crease the number of virtual tours and to produce short, bespoke online films about collections and exhibitions. One could even question whether the concept of a museum visit has changed over the year and, if the answer is yes, how? In order to answer those questions, we should pause for a minute to think about the history of the collections, the encounters between the objects and their public, as well as the related knowledge produced by research.

The museum as a public and democratic space, as we understand it from today’s perspective, is a relatively recent phenomenon. The majority of European museums were founded and opened to the public in the 19th century, as discussed in the exhibition catalogue Inspiration – Iconic Works (ed. Susanna Pettersson, 2020), published in cooperation with the Finnish National Gallery/Ateneum Art Museum, Helsinki, for an exhibition featuring the history of museums and the formation of the canon of art history.

This era, the grand century of the founding of museums, was also a time that witnessed the formation of something we know as the visitor’s code – how the public that entered the newly opened galleries was expected to behave. Pre- viously, the earliest collections were at the time of writing this text, in the

early summer of 2020, the whole world has slowed because of Covid-19. It has been an exceptional experience for the majority of the population. Many public services, such as museums, libraries and archives, as well as concert halls, theatres and cinemas, have been closed during the worst months of the pandemic. Even the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm closed on 20 March for three months.

Closing a function like the National- museum holds a great symbolic value. It signals severe societal disruption, where- as an open and democratic space commu- nicates the opposite. We have witnessed how museums, both large and small, all around the globe, have closed their doors, and how these arenas for exploration, interpretation and learning have been put on hold. Hundreds of exhibitions have been cancelled or rescheduled.

Museums were quick to arrange alter- native ways to access their collections, with existing online resources created a solid basis for this work. One example is Europeana, where thousands of European archives, libraries and museums sharing their collections for “enjoyment, educa- tion and research”. The material consists of millions of books, music and artworks.

The Nationalmuseum has also published over 87,000 images of its collections online, a number that is increasing every year. The aim is to encourage online visitors to explore and enjoy the collections,

Foreword – Time to Look, Read and Explore

Susanna Pettersson

Director General

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ForEworD – TImE To Look, rEaD anD ExPLorE acquisition project that became an exhibi-

tion. This issue also features a concluding article by Professor Michael Yonan, an es- say on Martin van Meytens’ portrait of the Viennese Court Jeweller Johann Michael von Grosser, a work of art that entered the Nationalmuseum’s collections almost a hundred years ago.

I wish to thank all my colleagues who contributed to this publication with their insightful articles. This is how we continue the tradition – by looking, exploring and sharing what we have learned. And the good news is that from this edition onward, we will be publishing the Art Bulletin of Nationalmuseum twice a year.

We hope to see you in our galleries, surrounded by our most recent and previous acquisitions!

a privilege, the responsibility of a new museum profession, conservators, who could provide detailed information about the technique, materials – or layers invisible to the naked eye – for research into art history.

From the perspective of accessibility, our digital age is opening up highways for experiences, interpretation and knowledge building. Collections can be explored in detail and high-resolution images can show more than any one of us has seen before: brush strokes, pigments, or small cracks in the paint. This, combined with art historical information and material studies, adds up to the grand historical narrative of art history.

Having said that, there is nothing as powerful as an encounter with an original, authentic object or artwork in a museum environment. These moments are magical now – and they will be magical in the fu- ture. Therefore, it is probably fair to claim that the time we are in has opened a lot of exciting doors to our collections, as well as lowering thresholds, although it has also shown that we cannot move our lives to Teams or Skype meetings – we cannot only interact with digital materials. Real museums are needed to experience the collections onsite, and real museums with their specialists are necessary to take a closer look at the collections.

The Art Bulletin of Nationalmuseum vol. 26:1 is a great example of an arena in which you can explore some of the highlights from our acquisitions in 2019. The articles showcase a carefully curated se- lection of artworks and objects that reflect Swedish cultural heritage, as well as our ambition to strengthen the collections’

international aspects. The first category includes articles on Daniel Segher’s Flower Garland with the Standing Virgin and Child (with its long history in Swedish collections), argent haché, royal tableaux vivants and Elsa Beskow’s drawings. The second category includes French master drawings of the 18th century and an article on the Danish Golden Age – an

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ACQUISITIONS/A FlOwer GArlANd by dANIel SeGherS

The Flemish 17th-century flower pain- ter Daniel Seghers (1590–1661) was held in the highest regard during his lifetime and is today seen as an important innovator of the genre. The Nationalmuseum recently acquired the artist’s Flower Garland with the Standing Virgin and Child (Fig. 1), one of the most highly valued artworks in the renowned collection of the Swedish mer- chant Henrik Wilhelm Peill (1730–1797) at Österbybruk.¹

Born at Antwerp in 1590, Seghers moved north with his widowed mother in his youth, living with Protestant relatives in Utrecht, where he began his artistic training. After returning to Antwerp around 1610, he completed his training under Jan Brueghel the Elder, a pioneer of flower painting, and in 1611 he was admitted as a master in the local painters’ guild. In 1614 he joined the Jesuit order as a lay brother at Mechelen. The Jesuits sent him to Rome in 1625–27, and subsequently placed him at Antwerp, where he spent the rest of his life painting in the order’s teaching house.² Seghers transformed the painted flower garland first introduced by Jan Brueghel the Elder.³ Having painted his first garland in Rome in c. 1626,⁴ he soon developed a distinctive style, more dramatic and colourful than his teacher’s. Dynamic compositions such as the Stockholm Flower Garland, with festoons elegantly arranged around a painted cartouche, and relying on strong chiaroscuro effects, became Seghers’ trademark.⁵ A sculpted Virgin and Child painted in trompe l’oeil

A Flower Garland by Daniel Seghers

Carina Fryklund, Curator, Paintings, Drawings and Prints before 1700 Lena Dahlén, Paintings Conservator

Fig. 1 Daniel Seghers (1590–1661) and Erasmus Quellinus the Younger (1607–1678), Flower Garland with the Standing Virgin and Child, c. 1645–50. Oil on copper, 85.5 x 61.5 cm.

Purchase: Wiros Fund. Nationalmuseum, NM 7505.

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seems to protrude from an arched niche at the centre of a cartouche in grisaille with Baroque scrollwork. Draped around the cartouche are festoons with a vibrant as- sortment of meticulously painted blooms, gathered into four separate bouquets interwoven with swirls of ivy. Flowers and leaves are turned in different directions to expose them to strong light from the upper left, and depth is suggested by the use of shadow as well as the curvature of flower stalks and bristling foliage. A convincing three-dimensional effect is created by contrasting flowers in luminous primary colours with the dark grey, deeply shaded scrollwork.

The image of the Virgin and Child was probably painted by Erasmus Quellinus the Younger (1607–1678), a member of a renowned Antwerp family of sculptors.

The two artists worked together from c. 1630 until Seghers’ death in 1661, producing at least twenty-nine paintings in a form of collaboration between specialists that was common in 17th- century Antwerp.⁶ The Stockholm Flower Garland may be dated to the mid- to late 1640s, when Seghers had established his signature style, a date consistent with Quellinus’ still Rubensian figure types. It may be compared with the Braunschweig Cartouche with Flower Garlands and the Standing Virgin and Child of c. 1645–50 (Fig. 2).⁷

Often signed ‘Daniel Seghers Soc[ietatis]

JESV’, Seghers’ paintings were presented as gifts by the Jesuit order to monarchs and dignitaries across Europe, and must be seen within the context of the Counter- Reformation.⁸ Their significance lies in the fact that the festoons encircle a trompe- l’oeil image contained within the painting itself, perhaps a reflection of the contemporary custom of draping flower garlands around devotional images for religious feast days. Seghers’ works thus proclaimed the legitimacy of images as objects of vene- ration, fundamental to Catholic treatises on art following iconoclastic riots in the late 16th century. The roses, anemones, ACQUISITIONS/A FlOwer GArlANd by dANIel SeGherS

Fig. 2 Daniel Seghers (1590–1661) and Erasmus Quellinus the Younger (1607–1678), Cartouche with Flower Garlands and the Standing Virgin and Child, signed “D. Seghers. Soctis JESV”, c. 1645–50. Oil on copper, 86 x 62 cm. Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, Braunschweig, GG 111.

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no preserved flower studies by Seghers, the repetition of certain floral arrange- ments and individual flowers, such as the costly red-flamed tulips, over many years would suggest that models – oil sketches, drawings or watercolours – were part of the artist’s stock-in-trade.¹⁰ Seghers worked methodically: he knew where to position the garlands and bouquets before the cartouche and central image were put in place.¹¹ The collaborative nature of his paintings would have been facilitated by the use of painted or drawn models, making it possible to plan compositions efficiently. This may also explain the limited number of pentimenti in Seghers’

paintings.

The painting technique of the Stock- holm Flower Garland conforms to Seghers’

known working methods.¹² The painting’s carnations, orange blossoms, hyacinths,

jasmine and ivy seen in the Stockholm Flower Garland had specific connotations, alluding to the respective roles of Mary and Jesus in the history of salvation, thus reiterating the theme represented in the central image. The painted flowers also bestowed value on the image through their intrinsic – rather than metaphorical – significance, floral still lifes being among the most highly prized works of art.

The flowers in the Stockholm Flower Garland are recorded with near-scientific accuracy. Yet these painted festoons are, taken in their entirety, purely imaginary.

Since Seghers’ bouquets are composed of flowers that bloom in different seasons, it must be assumed that, like his teacher, Jan Brueghel the Elder,⁹ he did not paint them exclusively from life. While there are

support consists of a thin copper panel in one of several standard sizes available in 17th-century Antwerp, with a smooth surface that allowed the artist to paint minute details.¹³ After the thin greyish ground layer had been brushed onto the metal support, there followed the dead colouring stage in which the garlands and principal flowers were positioned, the garlands indicated with green paint ¹⁴ and the flowers with monochrome, brightly coloured shapes (Fig. 3). These abstract shapes, smaller than the finished flowers, provided a base tone for the paint layer on top. Next, the grisaille cartouche and dark background were painted in.¹⁵

The final flowers were painted wet-in- wet and rarely built up with more than one paint layer.¹⁶ Seghers’ delicate brushstrokes follow the direction in which Fig. 3 Infrared reflectogram of Daniel Seghers (1590–1661) and Erasmus Quellinus the Younger (1607–1678), Flower Garland with the Standing Virgin and Child, c. 1645–50 (detail). Oil on copper, 85.5 x 61.5 cm. Purchase: Wiros Fund. Nationalmuseum, NM 7505.

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Notes:

1. Daniel Seghers and Erasmus Quellinus the Younger, Flower Garland with the Standing Virgin and Child, c. 1645–50, oil on copper, 85.5 x 61.5 cm, signed “D. Seghers Soctis JESV” (bottom right), NM 7505. Purchased in 2019 with funds provided by the Wiros Fund. Provenance: Claes Grill (1705–

1767), Svindersvik (according to Roger de Robelin B.A.); Henrik Wilhelm Peill (1730–1797) and Anna Johanna Peill (née Grill) (1745–1801), Österby- bruk, Uppland; Pehr Adolph Tamm (1774–1856), Österbybruk, Uppland; Hugo Tamm (1840–1907), Fånöö, Uppland; by inheritance in the family; sold (Uppsala Auktionskammare, Uppsala, 11 June 2019, lot 815). Bibliography: Albin Roosval (ed.), Svenska slott och herresäten vid 1900-talets början, Stockholm 1923, p. 106; Olof Granberg, Svenska konstsamlingarnas historia, från Gustav Vasas tid till våra dagar, vol. 2, Stockholm 1930, pp. 130 and 132; and Claës Tamm, Österbysamlingen, Mjölby 2008, pp. 76–77, no. 10.

2. Marie-Louise Hairs, Les Peintres flamands de red lake in sepals and stems enliven the

greens. Different colours were sometimes layered: the purple anemone was built up by applying a transparent blue layer over pink dead colouring; in between the delicate brushstrokes the underlayer re- mains visible, creating an effect of pink and purple tones (Fig. 5). Another example is seen in the yellow anemones, where yellow was applied over a bright red underlayer, and details such as stamen and pistils were rendered with slightly impasted highlights.¹⁸ After finishing the main flowers, Seghers completed the festoons by adding in-between flowers and greenery painted directly over the grey cartouche or dark background.

organic forms flow, suggesting volume.

Tulips were modelled by applying grey paint on the shadow side, next to the egg-shaped reddish-orange dead colouring: the dark colour shimmers through the semi-transparent top layer, while the adjacent bright dead colouring provides a base tone for the flowers’ sunlit side.¹⁷ The flame pattern was painted free-hand with flowing strokes of red lake, before areas of the underlayer were covered with more opaque white paint (Fig. 4). Pink roses were modelled by applying a dark pink glaze over bright pink dead colouring, the shape of the petals defined by delicate brushstrokes in pink and white, leaving ridges along the contours due to the non- absorbency of the metal support. Dots of

Fig. 4 Infrared reflectogram of Daniel Seghers (1590–1661) and Erasmus Quellinus the Younger (1607–1678), Flower Garland with the Standing Virgin and Child, c. 1645–50 (detail). Oil on copper, 85.5 x 61.5 cm. Purchase: Wiros Fund. Nationalmuseum, NM 7505.

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fleurs au XVIIe siècle, Brussels 1985, pp. 117–195;

and Adriaan van der Willigen and Fred G. Meijer, A Dictionary of Dutch and Flemish Still-Life Painters Working in Oils, 1525–1725, Leiden 2003, p. 180.

3. David Freedberg, “The Origins and Rise of the Flemish Madonnas in Flower Garlands: Decoration and Devotion”, in Münchner Jahrbuch der bildenden Kunst 32, 1981, pp. 115–150. Cf. Peter Paul Rubens and Jan Brueghel the Elder, The Virgin and Child in a Flower Garland, oil on panel, 185 x 209.8 cm, c. 1616/18, Munich, Alte Pinakothek, inv. no. 331, for which see Konrad Renger and Claudia Denk, Flämische Malerei des Barock in der Alten Pinakothek, Munich 2002, pp. 336–341, ill.

4. Daniel Seghers and Dominico Zampieri, The Triumph of Love, oil on canvas, 130 x 110 cm, Paris, Musée du Louvre, inv. no. 797, for which see Hairs 1985, pp. 129–130, colour pl. 34.

5. Hairs 1985.

6. Cf. Christine van Mulders, “Peter Paul Rubens and Jan Brueghel de Oude: de drijfveren van hun samenwerking”, in Concept, Design and Execution in Flemish Painting (1550–1700), Hans Vlieghe, Arnout Balis and Carl van de Velde (eds.), Turnhout 2000, pp. 111–126.

7. Oil on copper, 86 x 62 cm, signed “D. Seghers.

Soctis JESV”, c. 1645–50, Braunschweig, Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, inv. no. 111, for which see De Bruyn 1988, p. 58, no. 133, colour pl. 3. For the Christ Child, cf. also Jan Philips van Thielen and Erasmus Quellinus the Younger, Flower Garland with a Seated Virgin and Child, oil on canvas, 148 x 104 cm, signed by Van Thielen and dated 1648, Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum, inv. no. 544, for which see De Bruyn 1988, pp. 58, 61, no. 112. The collections of the Nationalmuseum include another collaborative work by the same artists, Flowers Surrounding a Cartouche with a Bust Portrait of the Virgin, c. 1650–55, oil on copper, 87.9 x 61.1 cm, signed “Daniel Seghers Soctis JESV” (bottom left), NM 1393, for which see Jean-Pierre de Bruyn, Erasmus II Quellinus (1607–1678): De schilderijen met catalogue raisonné, Freren 1988, pp. 62, 219–220, no. 164; and Görel Cavalli-Björkman, Carina Fryklund and Karin Sidén, Dutch and Flemish Paintings III, Flemish Paintings c. 1600–c. 1800, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm 2010, pp. 311–315, no. 175.

8. Freedberg 1981.

9. Sarah Murray and Karin Groen, “Four early Dutch flower paintings examined with reference to Crispijn van de Passe’s Den Blom-Hof”, in Bulletin of the Hamilton Kerr Institute, 2, 1994, pp. 6–20;

and Beatrijs Brenninkmeijer-de Rooij, Roots of Seventeenth-Century Flower Painting: Miniatures, Plant Books, Paintings, Leiden 1996, pp. 47–83.

10. So far, infrared reflectography suggests that Seghers copied his flowers free-hand (or used a material undetectable by IRR), rather than by

Fig. 5 Daniel Seghers (1590–1661) and Erasmus Quellinus the Younger (1607–1678), Flower Garland with the Standing Virgin and Child, c. 1645–50 (detail). Oil on copper, 85.5 x 61.5 cm. Purchase: Wiros Fund.

Nationalmuseum, NM 7505.

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paint their day and shadow from life, or from models” (p. 364), quoted from van Dorst 2020, p. 33.

18. Except for the bright yellow narcissus, most of the yellow flowers now appear dull and formless owing to the presence of degraded orpiment, an arsenic-based yellow pigment widely used in the 17th century. Also observed in van Dorst 2020, pp. 36–37.

tracing them. By contrast with his teacher, he rarely repeated whole compositions.

11. Seghers would have completed his portion of the composition before passing it on to his collaborators: in several preserved paintings the central image was never added and the centre of the cartouche was left blank. See examples from the 1640s and 1650s in Ghent (Museum voor de Schone Kunsten, inv. no. 1886-A), Copenhagen (Statens Museum for Kunst, inv. no. KMSsp231), Oldenburg (Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, inv. no. 134), London (Kensington Palace, Royal Coll., inv. no. RCIN 405617), and Madrid (Museo del Prado, inv. no. 1912).

12. Findings are based on visual and infrared reflectography examination only; no cross-section analysis or XRF spectroscopy was carried out at the time. Technical specifications for IRR:

Camera Osiris, InGaAs line array, 0.9 – 1.7µm; Opus Instruments, Norwich, Great Britain; light source, Dedolight DLH652, Tungsten GY9.5 / max. 650 W.

All infra-red reflectography carried out by Cecilia Heisser. For a more thorough account of Seghers’

technique and materials, see Sven van Dorst,

“Daniël Seghers, phoenix of flower-painters”, in Bulletin of the Hamilton Kerr Institute, 6, 2020, pp. 29–45.

13. Many of Seghers’ flower garlands on copper supports have similar dimensions, measuring approximately 86 x 61 cm; see van Dorst 2020, p.

33. See further Isabel Horovitz, “The Materials and Techniques of European Paintings on Cop- per Supports”, pp. 63–92, and Jørgen Wadum,

“Antwerp Copper Plates”, pp. 93–116, in Copper as Canvas: Two Centuries of Masterpiece Paintings on Copper, 1575–1775 (exh. Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, Arizona; The Nelson Atkins Museum of Art; Mauritshuis, The Hague, 1999), New York and Oxford 1999.

14. Seghers is known to have used mixed greens containing yellow and blue pigments, mainly lead-tin yellow, azurite, and lead white, with some earth pigments. Cf. van Dorst 2020, pp. 33–34, 37–38.

15. The scrollwork cartouche does not continue underneath the dead colouring of the principal bouquets and garlands, and was thus painted after the dead colouring had been completed. The grisaille cartouche could have been outlined with chalk before commencing the dead colouring.

16. On Seghers’ painting technique and pigments used, see van Dorst 2020.

17. The procedure was described by the painter and art theoretician Gérard de Lairesse in his Groot schilderboek, Amsterdam 1707. He recommends painting the garlands first, before positioning the flowers: “When dry, one shall arrange the flowers on it, the most important first, each in their place, indicating these with one singular colour, red, blue, or yellow, of such a shade that one can skilfully

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ACQUISITIONS/A DrAwINg Of DAvID wITh The heAD Of gOlIATh ATTrIbUTeD TO SImON vOUeT

In 1627, Simon vouet (1590–1649) returned to Paris after fourteen years in Italy, bringing with him his experience of an exceptionally dynamic period in painting, one in which classicism and Baroque tendencies tussled with each other, and knowledgeable and wealthy patrons spurred on artists. In Rome, which had been Vouet’s base, the 1610s and 1620s were particularly characterised by the assimilation of Caravaggio’s realism and dramatic chiaroscuro. Spanish, French and Dutch artists absorbed these innovations, transferring them to their home countries.

Simon Vouet received prestigious commissions during his time in Italy and, in 1624, was appointed president (principe) of Rome’s academy of arts, Accademia di San Luca.¹

On his return to Paris, Vouet became a leading force in French painting, with commissions for the king and leading aristocrats, who appreciated his classically tempered Baroque style. His ability to lead the work of a large studio contributed to his success, with the individual con- tributions of assistants and pupils being harmoniously adapted to the style of the master (or, more correctly, the studio), making it almost impossible to distinguish between them. Several artists in the up- coming generation learned their craft with Vouet, including Charles Le Brun, who would apply his skills on an even larger scale in well-organised and monumental commissions for Louis XIV.

A Drawing of David with the Head of Goliath Attributed to Simon Vouet

Martin Olin Director of Research

Fig. 1 Simon Vouet (1590–1649), David with the Head of Goliath, c. 1620–21. Black chalk and white chalk on brown paper, 333 x 262 mm. Purchase: Hedda and N. D. Qvist Fund. Nationalmuseum, NMH 16/2019.

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with the Head of Goliath, produced in Ge- noa in 1621, is a clear manifestation of the principles of Roman Caravaggism (Fig. 4).⁵ TheNationalmuseum has acquired a drawing of the same subject, attributed to Si- mon Vouet (Fig. 1).⁶ The drawing, in black and white chalk on brown paper, shows a young man with dark curly hair, wearing a feathered cap and standing beside a crag, his head turned to the right, gazing out of the picture to the observer’s left. He is holding a large sword in his right hand, while ACQUISITIONS/A DrAwINg Of DAvID wITh The heAD Of gOlIATh ATTrIbUTeD TO SImON vOUeT

for a short period in c. 1620, and his wife Virginia da Vezzo (1597–1638), from c.

1621–22.³ In both cases, engravings have identified them as the authors of two paintings of Old Testament heroes: in Virginia’s case, a Judith in a Roman collection and, in Aubin’s, a David, which was acquired by Musée des Beaux-Arts in Bordeaux in 1986 (Figs. 2–3).⁴ Half-figures of saints or bibli- cal characters were popular subjects in this period’s art. This also applies to Vouet’s Italian works, in which a painting of David Whether Simon Vouet had already estab-

lished a large studio in Rome is an open question.² His success should have meant he had some need for assistance; a number of his compatriots were registered in the artist’s household in 1624–25, but it is not known whether they were pupils, colleagues, servants or perhaps lodgers. There are really just two painters who can be definitely linked to Vouet’s activities: his brother Aubin Vouet (1595–1641) who was five years his junior and worked in Rome

Fig. 2 Aubin Vouet (1595–1641), David with the Head of Goliath. Oil on canvas, 117.5 x 89.5 cm. Musée des Beaux-Arts, Bordeaux, Bx 1986.4.1.

Fig. 3 Michel Lasne (c.1590–1667) after Aubin Vouet (1595–1641), David with the Head of Goliath, 1633–57. Engraving, 229 x 151 mm. British Museum, London, 1873,0809.114.

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ACQUISITIONS/A DrAwINg Of DAvID wITh The heAD Of gOlIATh ATTrIbUTeD TO SImON vOUeT

the highlights on his collarbone, shoulder, nose and chin.

There are remarkable likenesses between this drawing and Vouet’s David in Genoa. This is particularly true of the posture, turn of the head and a detail such as the fingers of the right hand. The light is similar, but the hint of outdoors and the crag are not found in the painting; there, the background is almost entirely dark, contrasting with the illuminated, naked shoulder. The biggest differences are in the clothing: in the drawing the stomach is his left rests on the dead Goliath’s sketched

head; this has been wrapped in a piece of fabric and placed above the crag. The light comes from the left, playing over the muscles of David’s exposed torso and the folds of his clothing. The surroundings – a cloud, the crag and what should probably be in- terpreted as a tree trunk – are drawn with a firm and, for Vouet, characteristic hatching with parallel lines in black chalk.⁷ There is a subtle use of white chalk highlights, particularly in the arm of David’s tunic or shirt, which has fallen off his shoulder, and

exposed and the right arm covered by the shirt – in the painting it is the opposite.

The model in the painting also appears to have a somewhat more compact physique.

However, Aubin Vouet’s David also has likenesses with the drawing. The lower section of the exposed torso is studied at the same angle and with the same dividing line to the right as the drawing, even if the model is less idealised in Aubin’s version, with more relaxed muscles and other realistic elements.⁸

Fig. 4 Simon Vouet (1590–1649), David with the Head of Goliath. Oil on canvas, 121 x 94 cm. Musei di Strada Nuova, Palazzo Bianco, Genoa, PB 2201.

Fig. 5 Attributed to Pierre Mignard I (1612–1695) after Simon Vouet (1590–

1649), David with the Head of Goliath, c. 1630. Etching with engraving on laid paper, 302 x 230 mm. Gift of Alan Stone and Lesly Hill. National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., 2006.77.1.

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is difficult to determine, but is nonetheless interesting as a matter of principle.¹² Notes:

1. William R. Crelly, The Paintings of Simon Vouet, New Haven and London 1962, p. 8.

2. Guillaume Kazerouni, “Un maître bien entouré”, in Simon Vouet (les années italiennes 1613/1627) (exh. cat.), Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nantes / Musée des Beaux-Arts et d’Archéologie de Besançon, Paris 2008, pp. 191–192.

3. Crelly 1962, p. 7.

4. Judith engraved by Claude Mellan.

5. Genoa, Musei di Strada Nuova, Palazzo Bianco (Inv. PB 2201). See Simon Vouet (les années italiennes 1613/1627), (note 2), cat. no. 27.

6. NMH 16/2019, 33.3 x 26.2 mm, black chalk and white chalk on brown paper, purchase by Hedda and N.D. Qvist’s fund, Sotheby’s, Paris, 30 October 2018, no. 452.

7. Cf Simon Vouet, 100 neuentdeckte Zeichnungen aus den Beständen der Bayerischen Staatsbibliothek, (exh. cat.), Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, München 1991, cat. nos. 46, 54.

8. Bordeaux, Musée des Beaux-Art, inv. 1986.4.1., see Simon Vouet (les années italiennes 1613/1627), (note 2), cat. no. 84.

9. There has also been discussion of whether Vouet could have done the engraving himself. See Jacques Thuillier, “Vouet et la gravure”, in Vouet (exh. cat.), Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, 1990–91, p. 63.

10. Barbara Bréjon de Lavergnée, “Vouet dessinateur en Italie”, in Simon Vouet (les années italiennes 1613/1627), (note 2), pp. 50, 55 (49–55).

The author draws comparisons with Nicolas Rég- nier, who had established activities in Rome in 1621 with life drawing from nude models, but with no known drawings being preserved.

11. Crelly 1962, p. 12.

12. In another example, Raphael’s studio – better known but not without parallels – accepted truths about drawings and studio practices have proven questionable, and consequently that issues of attribution must be reconsidered. Cf. Nicholas Turnes, “Swings and Roundabouts in the Attribution of Drawings to Raphael over the Last Two Centuries”, in Raffael als Zeichner / Raffaello disegnatore, Marzia Faietti and Achim Gnann (eds.), Florence 2019, p. 145 (137–152).

ACQUISITIONS/A DrAwINg Of DAvID wITh The heAD Of gOlIATh ATTrIbUTeD TO SImON vOUeT A third presentation of this subject also

appears to have associations with the drawing. This is an engraving attributed to Pierre Mignard (1612–1695) after Simon Vouet (Fig. 5).⁹ In the engraving, David’s right arm is the one that rests on Goliath’s head, which is placed high on the left, with the left hand holding the sword. Here, the light falls from the right. The image of the curly-haired model is generally remini- scent of the drawing. The lower area of the stomach is drawn with the same profile to the right, with a distinct break in the line.

In the drawing this is partially motivated by the deep shadow, but in both cases it appears somewhat dubious anatomically.

Considering the above-mentioned links to the two paintings dated 1620–21, it is tempting to propose the same dating for the Nationalmuseum’s drawing of David with the Head of Goliath. Simon Vouet’s drawn oeuvre from his time in Paris is both extensive and well-known, but very few drawings have been dated to his time in Italy. There has even been discussion of whether Vouet actually used drawn studies in Rome or, like Caravaggio, sketched straight onto the canvas. The leading ex- pert on Vouet’s drawings, Barbara Bréjon de Lavergnée, feels that this is unlikely, but is wary of accepting dates for figure studies that locate them during his time in Italy.¹⁰ Stylistically, the Nationalmuseum’s drawing is comparable with Vouet’s drawings from the 1630s and, if the attribution to Mignard is correct, then the engraving should also be dated to the period after Vouet’s return to France, when Mignard became his pupil. There appears to be no simple answer to the question of the relationship between the various Davids, but the problem actualises issues about the reuse of successful model studies and close cooperation in a studio. Aubin was a highly trusted colleague of Simon Vouet and distinguishing between their works stylistically is almost impossible.¹¹ How the drawings were used in work at the studio is not clear in Vouet’s case and, naturally,

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When André Félibien, a French archi- tect and historiographer, described the origin of enamel painting as a form of art in its own right, he proudly declared that it was a French invention and that enamel portraiture was an unknown phenomenon prior to 1630. If Félibien is to be believed, this was when a goldsmith, Jean Toutin the Elder, produced the first example.¹ He specifically mentions a clock in enamelled gold that Toutin’s son, Henri (1614–1683), completed for the queen dowager Anne of Austria.² The Nationalmuseum has recently acquired a unique portrait in enamel of Ludvig XIII’s widow, attributed to Henri Toutin (Fig. 1).³ This was long thought to be the work of Jean Petitot the Elder (1607–1691), but was later attributed to Henri Toutin by one of the foremost French experts in enamel portraiture, Dr Bodo Hofstetter.⁴ It belongs to Toutin’s later production and can be dated to the period around 1660, showing Anne of Austria in black mourning dress. As a mark of her royal status, she wears a crown and ermine trimmed costume, as in so many other portraits. The queen is depicted against the sky, which not only occurs in Toutin’s other portraits, but also those of his colleague Jean Petitot. However, the fascinating element of this enamel portrait is not its content, but rather the fact that it does not appear to be based on any known original, as was otherwise the case.

Technically, the enamel portrait of Anne of Austria differs from Toutin’s previous

Henri Toutin’s Portrait of Anne of Austria.

A New Acquisition from the Infancy of Enamel Portraiture

Magnus Olausson Director of Collections

Fig. 1 Henri Toutin (1614–1683), Anne of Austria, Queen of France and Navarre (1601–1666), c. 1660.

Enamel, heightened with gold, 42 x 35 mm. Purchase: Hjalmar and Anna Wicander Fund. Nationalmuseum, NMB 2746.

ACQUISITIONS/HeNrI TOUTIN’S POrTrAIT OF ANNe OF AUSTrIA

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frame of this portrait have been preserved except one.

An almost identical frame surrounded a portrait of the Polish queen, Maria Casimire, painted by Jean Petitot the Elder and sold by Christie’s in London in the summer of 2018 (Fig. 3).⁶ Judging by inventories of noble estates from the time, there were once many mounts of this type, even if they all represent a high level of exclusiveness. Only a handful now remain.⁷ It is interesting that the Nationalmuseum’s collection, even before the acquisition of Toutin’s portrait, included another excel- lent example with the same provenance, ACQUISITIONS/HeNrI TOUTIN’S POrTrAIT OF ANNe OF AUSTrIA

base was developed by several French specialists in the mid-17th century, with Gilles Légaré (1610–1685), as one of the prominent names.⁵Very few pieces can be directly linked to him. Légaré’s idiom and models were not least disseminated through his Livre des ouvrages d’orfèvrerie, published in 1663. Just like the frame for Toutin’s portrait of Anne of Austria, this one is dominated by white enamel paint on a subtle relief of flowers and leaves. In turn, delicate lines on the white background and touches of colouring provide emphasis, as do diamonds with settings that mark the pistils. All the gems in the works, not least in the way the paints have

been applied. His first confirmed portrait using this new technique, a unique depic- tion of Charles I, dated 1636, comes close to watercolours on parchment due to the almost transparent colouring (Fig. 2).

Instead, in this portrait of the French queen dowager, the colouring is more saturated and, just like his colleague Jean Petitot, Toutin works here using a clearly discernible fine stipple technique.

If the portrait is a rarity, so too is the lavish frame, a piece of jewel art in its own right. This type of naturalist floral and leaf ornamentation in enamel on a gold

Fig. 2 Henri Toutin (1614–1683), Portrait of King Charles I (1600–1649), King of England, 1636. Gold (metal), 74 x 53 x 6 mm. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, SK-A-4370.

Fig. 3 Jean Petitot the Elder (1607–1691), Queen Maria Casimire of Poland (1641–1716), in Gold Dress. Enamel on gold, oval 42 mm. Sold at Christies, London 4 July 2018, lot. 85.

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ACQUISITIONS/HeNrI TOUTIN’S POrTrAIT OF ANNe OF AUSTrIA

in Paris, where Pierre Signac was educated, and Stockholm.

It is absolutely apparent that luxury consumption at the Swedish court, where the boîte à portrait (a jewelled and enamel- led case for miniature portraits) represented the latest fashion, required access to number of specialists. Signac was not the only representative of this expertise in Stockholm; an oft questioned hypothesis is that Jean Toutin the Younger visited Stockholm to enter service with Queen i.e. David David-Weill’s former collection

– a portrait of Queen Christina, in an enamel frame that is at least as lavish, with jewel encrusted marguerites intertwined with ribbon.⁸ The portrait was previously attributed to Paul Prieur (c. 1620–after 1683), but was reattributed to Pierre Signac (1623–1684) by Görel Cavalli- Björkman (Fig. 4).⁹ Naturally, this does not automatically mean the frame was also produced in Stockholm, but there is now an interesting link between Toutin’s studio

Christina. This information appears in the memoirs written by the artist’s nephew, Jean Rou.¹⁰ Even if this cannot be vali- dated by Swedish sources, and Jean Rou had heard this afterwards, which may have led to a misunderstanding, there is still reason to consider the level of truth in this, because members of the Toutin family did indeed work in Stockholm during the Great Power Era.¹¹ Genealogist Olof Cronberg has discovered that a Jean Toutin is first mentioned as a godfather at Fig. 4 Pierre Signac (1623–1684), Christina, Queen of Sweden. Enamel,

78 x 64 mm. Purchase: Hjalmar and Anna Wicander Fund. Nationalmuseum, NMB 2316.

Fig. 5 Attributed to Pierre Signac (1623–1684), Miniature Portrait of King Karl XI of Sweden (1655–1697), c. 1672–75. 40 x 29 mm. The Royal Armoury, Stockholm, LRK 1115.

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7. Diana Scarisbrick lists five different examples, cf.

Scarisbrick 2011, pp. 129 f. Cf. Michèle Bimbenet- Privat & François Farges, La boîte à portrait de Louis XIV, Paris, Louvre éditions et Somogy éditions d’art, collection Solo, Paris 2015. See also Céline Cachaud, “Framing miniatures in the 17th century: The Golden Age of ‘la boïte à portrait’”, https://theframeblog.com/tag/gilles-legare/, (accessed 9 June 2020).

8. David David-Weill, Miniatures and Enamels from the D. David-Weill collection, Paris 1957, p. 482, cat. no. 345.

9. Cf. Görel Cavalli-Björkman, Pierre Signac. En studie i svenskt emalj- och miniatyrmåleri under 1600-talet, diss. Stockholm 1972, p. 76, cat. no. 15.

10. Jean Rou, Mémoires inédits et opuscules de Jean Rou (1638–1711) / publiés pour la Société de l’histoire du protestantisme français, d’après le manuscrit conservé aux archives de l’État à la Haye par Francis Waddington, Paris 1857.

Cf. Karl Asplund, “Jean Toutin d.y.”, Svenskt konstnärslexikon, vol. V, Malmö 1967, p. 470.

Cf. Michèle Bimbenet-Privat, Les orfèvres et l’orfèvrerie de Paris au XVIIe siècle, vol 1 (Les hommes), Paris 2002.

11. Olof Cronberg, “Forska i fantastiska Europa”, Släktforskarnas årsbok 2017, pp. 64–72. I thank Dr Olof Cronberg for his kindness in bringing my attention to this source.

12. Ibid., p. 80.

13. Ibid., p. 83.

14. Ibid., p. 82.

15. Ibid., p. 79.

16. SlA, Hovstatsräkenskaperna 1662, Huvudbok vol. 4. Here, Valentin Toutin and Pierre Signac are recorded together in the accounting items, indicating that the delivery of the “conterfeÿen” was joint. Thank you to the keeper of the royal palace archives, Mats Hemström, and archivist Ulrica Hofverberg, Swedish National Archives, for their ready assistance.

17. Erik Andrén et al., Svenskt silversmide. Guld- och silverstämplar 1520–1850, Stockholm 2000, p. 85.

18. Their cooperation is confirmed in the royal court accounts in the Royal Palace Archives (cf. note 15). See also Fredrik Bedoire, Huguenotternas värld. Från religionskrigens Frankrike till Skeppsbroadelns Stockholm, Stockholm 2009, p.151. Bedoire, who describes in detail the Toutin family and their many branches in the successful Skeppsbro nobility, bases his description upon the older idea that Valentin Toutin was the son of Jean Toutin the Elder, which Olof Cronberg has, on good grounds, proven is not possible.

require cooperation with a jeweller such as Toutin. There is thus much to indicate that the jewel-beset portrait of Charles XI, from the old royal treasury collection, now at the Royal Armoury, was the result of a cooperation with Valentin Toutin (Fig. 5).

One could ask whether Pierre Signac was the real reason that Valentin Toutin and his father came to Stockholm? Signac, who had studied at Toutin’s studio in Paris, was certainly familiar with the various family members and thus also Henri Toutin. The acquisition of this unique portrait of Anne of Austria has added an important puzzle piece to the Nationalmuseum’s collections and, at an individual level, reflects a pione- ering stage of European enamel painting.

Notes:

1. André Félibien, Des principes de l‘architecture, de la sculpture, de la peinture et des autres arts qui en dependant avec un dictionnaire des termes propres à chacun des arts, Paris 1676–90, (1697), p. 307.

Jean Toutin the Elder (1578–1644) first worked as a goldsmith in Châteaudun, then moved his business to Paris.

2. Ibid., p. 312.

3. Henri Toutin’s enamel portrait of Anne of Austria was acquired at The Pohl-Ströher Collection of Portrait Miniatures, Part I, 6 December 2018, Sotheby’s London, lot. 28. This work was included in David David-Weill (1871–1952), inv. no. 4282, until 1936 and later in the collections of Charles Clore (1905–1979), London, which were sold by Sotheby’s, 10 November 1986, lot 144. The portrait was then believed to be by Jean Petitot the Elder.

4. Dr Bodo Hofstetter has highlighted the similarities with another work from the same period by Henri Toutin, a portrait of the young Louis XIV, see Graham Reynolds, The Sixteenth and Seventeenth-Century Miniatures in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen, London 1999, p. 255, cat.

no. 350. I am very grateful to Dr Hofstetter, who has generously made his documentation available to the Nationalmuseum.

5. Cf. Priscilla Grace, “A Celebrated Miniature of the Comtesse d’Olonne”, in Bulletin. Philadelphia Museum of Art. Jewelry, vol. 83, no. 353, Autumn 1986, pp. 10–14. See also Diana Scarisbrick, Portrait Jewels. Opulence and Intimacy from the Medici to the Romanovs, London 2011, pp. 106f.

6. Jean Petitot the Elder: Queen Maria Casimire of Poland, from the collection of Ernst Holzscheiter, sold at Christie’s, London, 4 July 2018, lot 85. https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/

Lot/jean-petitot-the-elder-swiss-1607-1691- 6151795-details.aspx, (accessed 9 June 2020).

ACQUISITIONS/HeNrI TOUTIN’S POrTrAIT OF ANNe OF AUSTrIA a baptism in Stockholm in 1660. He died in

1671 and is buried in the Maria Magdalena Church.¹² One could ask whether this Jean Toutin is the same person as Jean Toutin the Younger? According to Cronberg, this is impossible, because the same Toutin is listed as godfather when Jean Toutin the Elder’s daughter Anne is baptised in Châteaudun in 1616, with Jean Toutin the Younger being born three years later.¹³ It is not possible to establish how the two people called Jean are actually related, other than there is plenty to indicate that they are close relatives. It seems as if the Jean Toutin who eventually comes to Stockholm is the same age as his name- sake, i.e. was born c. 1585. He was also a goldsmith and had worked in Paris since 1617.¹⁴

So why did this Jean Toutin come to Sweden? The answer is probably that his son, court jeweller Valentin Toutin (1631–1679) was already working in the Swedish capital. There are mentions of Valentin Toutin’s presence in Stockholm since at least 1655.¹⁵ He is first found in the queen dowager Hedwig Eleonora’s royal court accounts in May 1662.¹⁶ Toutin then occurs here and there in Charles XI’s royal court accounts until 1671.¹⁷ On his death, eight years later, we can see that his coun- tryman, court enamellist Pierre Signac, is named as guardian of the court jeweller’s now fatherless children. Incidentally, a few years previously Signac was listed as a lod- ger with Toutin in his property in Gamla Stan. The entryway to Västerlånggatan 52 is still decorated with a dripstone-style Baroque pearl, a reminder of the previous owner’s profession.

Naturally, it is not surprising that Valentin Toutin and Pierre Signac were close. They almost definitely also did business together, as Toutin’s estate lists Signac among his customers.¹⁸ The type of luxury goods in demand at the court required a large degree of specialisation and Signac certainly managed to supply some of the enamelled frames and cases on his own, but the gemstone mounts

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ACQUISITIONS/POrTrAITS ANd dININg ServICeS frOm The grIll fAmIly

In 2018, the Nationalmuseum acquired two works in pastels by Gustaf Lundberg (1695–1786), showing the couple Anna Johanna the Elder (1720–1778) and Claes Grill (1705–1767). The portraits had formerly hung in the Chinese Room at Godegård, Östergötland, where they were surrounded by eight Chinese paintings on rice paper, depicting landscapes and buildings, as well as a few smaller paintings, also with Chinese subjects. Gode- gård manor and works were owned by the couple’s nephew Johan Abraham Grill (1736–1792) from 1775.¹

The Grill family had Dutch roots and played an important role in Swedish trade and industry in the 17th and 18th centuries.² Claes Grill’s father, Abraham (1674–1725), and Abraham’s brother Carlos (1681–1736), founded the Grill trading company in Stockholm. This was where Claes was trained, eventually taking over the business, which mainly exported iron, copper and wood products. Grill owned ironworks and shares in mines, as well as docks and vessels. Imports among others consisted of colonial goods. The founding of the Svenska Ostindiska Kompaniet [Swedish East India Company] in 1731³ caught the attention of the Grill family.

Claes and his two brothers, as well as his nephew Johan Abraham, were eventually made directors. The latter also participa- ted in journeys to China as supercargo. The Chinese Room at Godegård was not simply an expression of 18th-century chinoiserie,

Portraits and Dining Services from the Grill Family

Eva-Lena Karlsson, Curator, Collections and Swedish National Portrait Gallery Micael Ernstell, Curator, Applied Art and Design

Figs. 1–2 Unknown designer, Tureen with the Grill family’s coat of arms. Porcelain, decor in underglaze blue, 10.7 x 27.5 cm (h x l) [tureen], 9 x 23.5 cm (h x diam) [lid], 3.8 x 31.7 cm (h x diam) [plate]. Purchase: Axel Hirsch Fund. Nationalmuseum, NMK 4/2019.

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seum in 2006, NMK 110a-b/2006).⁶ Claes Grill also owned one of his time’s foremost art collections in Sweden, with both older Dutch and contemporary Swedish works.⁷ The artists that Claes and Anna Johanna Grill were in close contact with included Gustaf Lundberg,⁸ who dominated Swedish pastels in the mid-18th century. Lundberg had dedicated himself to this technique during his time in Paris, where he arrived in 1717. A few years later, the Venetian artist Rosalba Carriera (1675–1757) also arrived in Paris. She was far from the first person to produce portraits in pastels, but was significant in increasing the popularity of this medium and influenced a number of contemporaneous artists. However, according to Merit Laine, Gustaf Lundberg was the only one who as good as abandoned oil painting for pastels during Carriera’s time in Paris, 1720–21. More and more artists in France followed the same path in the fol- ACQUISITIONS/POrTrAITS ANd dININg ServICeS frOm The grIll fAmIly

the Elder, who married in 1737, or their son Adolf Ulric (1752–1797) and Anna Johanna the Youngest (1753–1809), who married in 1778.⁵

In addition to trade, the family was also active in the applied arts. For example, Anthoni Grill (1639–1703) and Baltzar Grill (d. 1697) were goldsmiths, with the latter also being director of Kungsholms glasbruk. Later generations continued the interest in high quality art and applied arts. For example, Claes Grill ordered one of the foremost examples of Swedish Rococo silver, a ewer and basin produced by Johan Collin (d. 1779) in 1745, probably after a model by Christian Precht (1706–1779). It is likely they were intended for Anna Johanna’s dressing table. When these silver objects were donated to the Dutch Reformed Church in Stockholm they were given a new function as christe- ning basin (acquired by the Nationalmu- but also carried a personal meaning for its

owner.

Naturally, the Grill family ordered porcelain via Ostindiska kompaniet, a total of six dinner services with coats of arms and two with monograms.⁴ The National- museum has acquired a tureen with a lid and plate (Figs. 1–2) and a lidded punchbowl (Fig 3). The Grill heraldic animals, a pair of entwined cranes with crickets (gril- lo in Italian) in their beaks, are shown on a white base with blue underglaze. Other ornamentation consists of flower garlands, palmettos and shells. The pattern has been hypothetically ascribed to Jean Eric Rehn (1717–1793). A single crane stands at the centre of the Grill escutcheon; the unusual image with two entwined birds probably means that this dining service celebrates the alliance between spouses. Two pairs of cousins have been named as possible commissioners: Claes and Anna Johanna

Figs. 1–2 Unknown designer, Tureen with the Grill family’s coat of arms.

Porcelain, decor in underglaze blue, 10.7 x 27.5 cm (h x l) [tureen], 9 x 23.5 cm (h x diam) [lid], 3.8 x 31.7 cm (h x diam) [plate]. Purchase: Axel Hirsch Fund.

Nationalmuseum, NMK 4/2019.

Fig. 3 Unknown designer, Punchbowl with the Grill family’s coat of arms.

Porcelain, decor in underglaze blue, 14.5 x 38.7 cm (h x l) [bowl], 3 x 40 cm (h x diam) [lid]. Purchase: Axel Hirsch Fund. Nationalmuseum, NMK 5/2019.

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ACQUISITIONS/POrTrAITS ANd dININg ServICeS frOm The grIll fAmIly

on her shoulders; it is lifted by a breeze, giving a sense of airiness. Similar compositions are also found in other portraits of women by Lundberg, although these women are generally depicted in half- length and en savoyarde, carrying a small box in which a genuine Savoyarde would be expected to keep a marmot for display.¹² Anna Johanna Grill’s portrait lacks these elements of role play. The focus is on the face and on her gaze, which is directed straight at the observer. In the profile portrait of her husband too, this outward gaze is clear in the only visible eye. Strict profile is unusual, not only for Lundberg, but generally in portrait painting. Both these pastels are high quality and representative lowing decades.⁹ This greater competition

meant that Lundberg left Paris in 1745 and returned to Sweden.

Lundberg’s pastels of the Grills are undated. Because portraits are always staged and more or less idealised, the ages of those depicted are difficult to assess.

Their half-length portraits are probably the first examples.¹⁰ After these, copies were executed in pastels, oils and engravings, probably produced in Lundberg’s environs.¹¹ The portraits are not composed as pendants – the wife is seen almost en face (Fig. 4), while the husband is shown in profile (Fig. 5). Anna Johanna is wearing a white bonnet with a pink ribbon tied in a bow beneath her chin. A thin fabric rests

examples of Gustaf Lundberg’s work. The artist has succeeded in creating an illusion of immediacy, a visual contact between model and observer.

Alexander Roslin (1718–1793) was also in the Grill family’s circle. In 1775, he executed a group portrait of Anna Jo- hanna the Elder with her children, Anna Johanna the Younger and Adolf Ulric. The deceased father of the family is present as a portrait in the portrait; on the wall in the background, Roslin has copied Lundberg’s pastel portrait of Claes Grill.¹³ Just over a decade later, Roslin painted a self-portrait in which his wife, the artist Marie Suzanne Giroust (1734–1772), is depicted working with a pastel that shows Henrik Wilhelm Fig. 4 Gustaf Lundberg (1695–1786), Anna Johanna Grill (1720–1778). Pastel

on paper, mounted on panel, 48 x 39 cm. Purchase: Hedda and N. D. Qvist Fund.

Nationalmuseum, NMB 2741.

Fig. 5 Gustaf Lundberg (1695–1786), Claes Grill (1705–1767). Pastel on paper, mounted on panel, 48 x 39 cm. Purchase: Hedda and N. D. Qvist Fund.

Nationalmuseum, NMB 2740.